Fuck I'm tired!

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All day I've been saying I'm tired. Maybe part of the reason why is that I had insomnia last night and laid awake listening to an audio book on composting with my eyes closed. Really good book though. Organic Gardener's Composting by Steve Solomon. It's available on scribd, but you can also find it online. I think the audio book is actually public domain. Here's it on gutenberg.org.

Or maybe it's the fact that the other day I managed to clear and turn over a 50 foot by 3 foot garden bed, by hand, in two days, in pretty fucking hot weather. Today I raked up leaves around the yard and behind it to use as mulch because I can't get up a bit north to where I can buy cheaper mulch. Trying to investigate maybe buying some in bulk...but that's pretty damn expensive. Maybe might try calling up the municipality and seeing if they'll just drop some off in front of my house.

I can feel the heat of the sun from working in it on my face and the back of my neck still.

I know a lot of people would probably do a lot more work out in the sun and consider it no big deal, but for me it is a pretty big deal after being out of shape for a while.

I also already planted a bunch of squash seeds, some pepper seeds, and now some radishes just today. I plan on planting some more radishes next week to stagger their planting so they aren't all ready at once. Maybe that's dumb. I can always harvest a few leaves early, and a few radishes when they're still small, and a few as they get bigger, and leave more in the ground a bit later until I'm ready to harvest them. But of course then they'll likely bolt to seed, which might not actually be too bad, since then I won't have to buy more seeds.

I got a bunch more seeds to plant as well. One that I'm looking forward to the most is Pak Choi. I love Pak Choi. I think I might like Chinese cabbage more than standard cabbage. It certainly cooks easier. I also got a few bean I'm going to experiment with. Probably could use quite a few more. Especially with how many beans I eat. But they're relatively cheap to buy normally. At least dry beans are. Also got some beets. And some Chinese celery from a previous year. Some basil. Lots of things actually.

I planted a bunch of seeds from some hot peppers I bought the other day. They were shockingly hot. I put a jalapeno and what I thought was some kind of banana pepper in some leftover beans and rice to put in a burrito. That was somewhat of a mistake. I swear that thing was hotter than a jalapeno. Between the two peppers it was maybe about the level of a habenero. That's quite a bit split between two burritos. And not a mild habenero. A damn hot one.

The long peppers look a lot like anaheim chiles, but must be some kind of hybrid or something, because after just cutting it up my skin was hurting for hours. I don't even have that reaction to habeneros. Though it has been a while since I cut some up.

The coolest thing is that somehow the peppers have already popped up. At least I think they did. Something that looks a hell of a lot like a pepper plant has popped up. I'll actually likely have to try to transplant some of them somehow, as I don't really like "thinning" plants. If you popped up, you should have a chance to survive. Plus I'm cheap and seeds are actually pretty damn expensive to buy. Even if I got these for free. I don't know which ones are going to live, or if some of them are going to be different or what.

So far getting back into gardening is going well. Very fucking tiring. Tired as fuck. Sore a bit. Can barely stand up straight or walk. But hey, I got some shit sprouting up.

Now I just gotta source some shit or some top soil for different parts of my yard. And some better mulch than random leaves. And some sleep.

I also gotta move my compost pile and start a new one.

This is gonna be a sore week.

9338124875_fd76fdb7a7_k.jpg
Habanero Pepper Plant 02 by Garrett Heath Taken on July 21, 2013 (source)
Used under CC BY 2.0 License

Crossposted to Steem



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9 comments
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Thanks for sharing your creative and inspirational post on HIVE!



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I'd love to be able to get out and do these sorts of things myself. Unfortunately my most in shape state isn't exactly healthy, especially not for manual labor. I do like growing plants though, so I'll be reading along for vicarious enjoyment.

Maybe I'll even get inspired and take the time to turn over my own little plot. I'll need to find some seed though. I'd probably want to grow soybeans too.

Interesting post, thanks for sharing.

Good luck to your crops!

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I wouldn't say I'm in shape either. I've been working for as long as I feel comfortable, then taking breaks, putting clothes to dry on the line, and maybe taking a shower, taking a break, getting a drink, etc. Then later I'll do a bit more. It's not easy. When I was at the store yesterday I worried if I was going to maybe fall over from exhaustion and then they'd think I had Covid-19.

You can start with a very small area and grow a surprising amount though. But do try to pace yourself. That's good even if just for the amount of sun you might be getting. XD

If you haven't had rain in a bit, it will also be especially easy to weed, which was a huge bonus for me.

Good luck if you do decide to plant something. Maybe just in a few small pots.

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You've inspired me, I'm going to clone a nearby willow tree. I did it once a few years back, but it got so hot one day that it was killed.

No food from those, but I'll still get to raise a plant.

Maybe I could try drawing it too. I've been thinking of getting into anatomical drawing.

Thanks for the luck, I'm going to make use of it.

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Good luck! I've cloned a ton of plants over the years, with mixed results. Would highly suggest getting some root grow. Not sure if air layering works on willow...but it might. That might be the easier option.

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I never knew about layering at all, it's pretty neat.

I'm just going to take a bunch of cuttings and hopefully one takes.

Last time I got a bunch of new growth from the tips of branches, cut it into little pieces, and soaked it to make a solution to stimulate rooting. It worked pretty well. Much better than the plain water, or any of the other homemade concoctions I tried.

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Nice! I never even thought about doing that.

I know some people do something where they make a sort of tea from weeds for liquid fertilizer, and it apparently works pretty well. Can get pretty disgustingly stinky though, as they leave it in the water to rot.

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That is a great idea!

I've tried retting flax to make linen in the past, and that would be a great use for the water rather than just dumping it. I never considered the nutrients that are surely in there.

I actually got those scions started today too. I wrote about it a little on my blog if you're interested, but it's auxiliary to the actual topic of the post.

My horticulture gears are really turning now.

It's amazing what one can learn from pseudonymous people on the internet, eh?

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Last winter I dug up and sieved a 3m x 3m section for the vegetable patch because at my place there is nothing but stones and builder's rubble. It was a hell of backache and blisters and took some weeks but I'm so grateful for it now. I kept going by telling myself that once completed. I'd never have to do it again and this helps.
Hang in there!

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